Summer Collegiate

They say every good party ends up in the kitchen.

Published

5 years ago

March 2, 2021

Well, baseball is a party, and in Nanaimo the gathering spot was the big wood stove down the hall from Kent’s Kitchen where former players, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans would all congregate.

The stove was the centrepiece of the Hall Of Fame Room in the bowels of Serauxmen Stadium. That stove is due to be rolled out the door this spring to make way for a new kind of baseball party – the Nanaimo NightOwls Baseball Club of the West Coast League, and the new team’s office space.

It was not sadness that trailed after that symbol of warmth and camaraderie, however. All those same players, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans had worked hard to someday attract a WCL team to their city so to see the space repurposed for such high-calibre ball was a treat, not a gripe.

“We’d have all these old guys come in and just B.S. about baseball,” said Kent Malpass, the man for whom the kitchen was unofficially named. He was one of the young guys who cozied up to that fire, when it first got kindled, and now he is the godfather of these goodfellas.

“If that room had ears, it would have lots of things to talk about. So many great people have worked to keep baseball in Nanaimo going and growing, and a lot of them ended up in that room having those conversations. So many of them have passed on now, great names, great people. Some are in a home now. That’s the way time works. And we’re in the middle of Covid and when that hit, it really shut it all down anyway.”

It was always Thursday morning that the regular gathering would happen, whether there was a ball game on that day or not.

“I’d get there at seven o’clock, and sometimes there were already people waiting to get in,” Malpass said. “They’d show up at 7:30, 8:00, trickling in, but there would often be a dozen of us just here for the conversation and seeing each other, talking about baseball and life.”

The big stove was never the point of these visits, but it was always the unspoken host. Even when there was a lull in the conversation, the crackle of the wood fire would evoke the crack of the bat.

“It’s a big stove. Huge,” Malpass said. “I’ve put wood in that thing at three o’clock in the afternoon and come back at 11 or 12 o’clock the next day and it would still be going.”

Kent and his Serauxmen Service Club members are much the same way. The Nanaimo charity group formed in 1967 over some beers and centennial cheers at the Tally Ho Pub. To this day, it is going strong and Nanaimo is its one and only chapter. They raise tens of thousands of dollars a year for all-local causes. They also pour tens of thousands of dollars worth of in-kind contributions and volunteerism into their community, and baseball is one of their chief loves.

Baseball brings people together, said Malpass, and baseball never ceases to draw in new people but never let go of anyone as they age. It’s something that grows with you no matter who you are or where you are, he said.

When Nanaimo seemed set to take a step up in the baseball world, back in the 1970s, Malpass and the Serauxmen were gleeful. Their club’s name is on the stadium because they took it upon themselves to lead the fundraising and logistics efforts to convert the former coal mine site into a ballpark that is still one of the best in B.C.

It opened in 1976 with a slate of celebrities on-site to throw the first pitches and cut all the ribbons. Malpass still glows at the memory of the top name on that fundraising ticket: the legendary superstar Mickey Mantle. Joining the Yankee Comet was another golden name from baseball’s history, Red Sox Gold-Glover and two-time all-star Jim Piersall.

“We took them fishing and showed them a good time,” said Malpass. “It cost the Serauxmen $5,000 to bring them in, which was a lot of money in 1976, but it worked really well. The place was packed.”

But that wasn’t the end of the Serauxmen commitment to Nanaimo baseball.

“Doug Rogers started the Nanaimo Pirates (of the BC Premier Baseball League) so his brother Danny and I used to do the equipment,” Malpass said, and that volunteer effort carried over into the whole youth baseball league where they would outfit up to 800 kids each year with uniforms, belts, helmets, socks, the whole kit. He would go on buying trips that needed a truck. “It was like Christmas for us, but everything was for the kids.”

A lot of the equipment distribution happened in that same room that eventually became the meeting space.

Malpass wore a lot of different volunteer caps over the years. He would paint the weathered spots on the fence, fix the broken boards on the bleachers, sweep the spilled popcorn, and he was a fixture in the concession kitchen. He grew up in the grocery industry and cooked in restaurants so this was his wheelhouse, but he also sold furniture, assembled satellite antennae, and other career moves that he always turned into a baseball double-play.

“I just love being at the stadium, being around baseball, being with baseball people, it’s a special thing,” he said. He pointed to the example of his friend Burt Lansdale who passed away and wanted his ashes scattered on the pitcher’s mound at the stadium. As the ceremony was going on, as the congregation bowed their heads in prayer, the automatic sprinklers suddenly popped on without warning. Malpass chuckled that even the stadium itself wanted to pay respects to someone who loved being there so much.

“People have a connection to this sport, because it’s more than a sport,” he said.

“Look at what Jim’s done (NightOwls General Manager Jim Swanson) with the team. The Owls were a team in Nanaimo in the 1920s which is where he dug up the name. It’s paying respect, it’s embracing tradition even when you’re doing something new.”

Malpass is excited to see the new team, the new league, and the new level of baseball Nanaimo has grown to embrace. He feels he, his friends, his neighbours, and the Serauxmen club members all had a hand in earning it. He’ll gladly sacrifice more volunteer time and work on the home stadium to make it happen. It’ll keep him as warm as any wood stove whose time has now passed.

That stove is not going to the scrap heap, though. Like the Owls name, it is just changing its context. The stove was a popular item for buildings that still could use that crackling heat, and it will be finding a home that will be fully aware of the history that comes with it.

Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Kids Major Focus of WCL All-Star Game Festival

Published

6 hours ago

June 16, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

Victoria baseball and softball organizations combine with HarbourCats and WCL to host largest baseball camp in city’s history. (Photo by Christian J Stewart)

Victoria, B.C. – Baseball is HOT right now in these parts, thanks to an unforgettable World Series run by the Toronto Blue Jays and record success for Canada at the World Baseball Classic, not to mention the amazing Canadian Little League tournament hosted by Layritz last July.

It’s also hot around here because of the continued success of the Victoria HarbourCats in the market, along with record registration numbers with many local organizations for this spring and summer.

Hosting the 2026 Showpass West Coast League All-Star Game Festival at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park gives all local baseball and softball organizations a chance to bond together and take that excitement to the next level with the largest baseball camp in the history of the city planned for parks in the area.

On Wednesday, July 15, from 9 am to noon, baseball organizations around South Vancouver Island will be hosting concurrent camps, just hours before the best of the West Coast League take to the field in the All-Star Game.

“This is a perfect opportunity to bring everyone to the fields, at the same time, and show the spirit of community and power of sport through the strong numbers involved in local baseball — and provide a development opportunity for young players,” said co-chair Dave Cockle, helping lead the youth baseball camps component for the WCL All-Star Game organizing committee. “The goal is to be fully inclusive, affordable, and have all of us in the baseball sphere working together. We think everyone will get behind this, and most already have.”

HarbourCats players and coaches will spread out to the various camp sites around the South Vancouver Island area — the usual Sooke-to-Sidney descriptive for blanket coverage. All ages can register through their catchment organization (see below).

Partnerships are in place to provide each camper a t-shirt, thanks to Victoria author, historian, and philanthropist Helen Edwards, and support also coming through A&W, and the guidance of the hard-working leadership of the provincial sport organization, Baseball BC. It is hoped all Little League, BC Minor and Softball BC organizations will take part in this meaningful and symbolic camps coalition.

The cost per camper will be $40, with all those proceeds staying with the host baseball/softball organization.

Organizations that have jumped on with excitement:

With more associations joining soon!

For more updates, be sure to follow @HarbourCats on all social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) or visit https://harbourcats.com/wcl/

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Pitching Coach Zach Swanson on baseball and Christianity

Published

1 day ago

June 15, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

In his first year as Pitching Coach of the HarbourCats, Zach Swanson (second from right), talks about how his baseball career, and those of who has coached, has been influenced by Christianity (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

June 15, 2026

By Norm Le Bus

Victoria, BC – In baseball parlance, there appears to be three interpretations of the verb “baptized.”

The old school meaning (Hey! I’m 66!) refers to brand new baseballs being rubbed up in the MLB Umpires’ room before games, removing the smooth, slippery gloss from brand-new balls by applying (I am not making this up) Blackburn’s Baseball Rubbing Mud.
This started in 1938 and continues today.

The second reference refers to the macho side of the game. When a pitcher throws an absolute ‘seed’ or a nasty breaking ball that causes the hitter to drastically swing and miss, sometimes falling over or losing composure in the batter’s box, he’s ‘baptized.’ Harkening back to a ‘baptism by fire,’ the hitter’s being initiated into a harsh reality of the game.

The third, and least common usage, is the conventional meaning: a symbolic act of obedience where a believer publicly declares their faith in Jesus Christ. It typically involves the use of water, signifying the washing away of sin and representing Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

To play devil’s advocate, it’s not unfair to ask: what’s baptism got to do with baseball? A ball diamond isn’t a dunk tank, swimming pool or a river.

Does it have anything to do with baseball?

Or everything?

Rookie HarbourCats pitching coach Zach Swanson takes a big exhale sitting on a worn, tan couch in the coach’s locker room. He’s either fielded this question before or thought deeply about the significance of Christianity in baseball.

“Probably closer to the ‘everything’ side,” he says, smiling. He sees the set-up and the purposeful ignorance in the question.

“To me, there are ways to go through this game that would be unhealthy…”

Zach starts again:

“A better way to put it is: We search as baseball players for an identity; whether we find that in a role – something that we have that we’re really good at, whether it’s a nasty slider, heater or you have a competitive edge that is better than anybody else. And I saw for myself in baseball that I had an identity as a pitcher, but it would rise and fall on some days.

“It wasn’t as stable of an identity as I thought it was.

“Getting baptized (in high school) and the profession of faith coming through that, and that becoming our identity is rooted in something stronger than can be shaken by a guy taking you 450 feet deep on a homerun. Those things on the field are fluid and will always be ever-changing.

“To me the identity that comes in Christ is so much more stable.”

At 26, Swanson is barely older than the HarbourCat players. He uses that to his advantage.

“I approach it as being more like a player and a big brother,” he says. “My style is more: I care about you a lot, and if I care, I know I will be able to get the best baseball out of you.”

One shining example of his two foci – big brother empathy and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter founder – comes to Victoria this summer in Harbourcats rookie pitcher Hunter Daniels.

HarbourCats pitcher Hunter Daniels cites Swanson as a key reason for improvements in his game, and in helping deepen his faith in Christianity (Photo: Norm LeBus)

Swanson spent two seasons coaching Daniels at Skyline High School in Mesa before Daniels moved to Phoenix College for his rookie Junior College season last September.

Daniels immediately took a liking to Swanson’s style at Skyline. The two were both involved with FCA, as well.

“He was younger; it was easy to relate to him, and he was a really good friend,” Daniels tells me on his first day in Victoria. During his junior year of high school Daniels, a strong student, struggled with some academics and online course work.

Swanson’s help was easy to accept.

“He was always there for me whenever I had questions, whenever I was going through something, he was always like the first person to come help me, talk it out,” Hunter recalls. “He’d always give me a good message from experience and he’d always back it up with his experience with Christ and religion.

“I just really liked that; he was always there for me.”

Daniels grew up Christian, but says he never really understood it that well and wasn’t much interested until high school, when a coach (not Swanson) suggested he start attending church in Mesa. Things were proceeding nicely, then the challenges hit his junior year.
At that time, Daniels left the church, overwhelmed by challenges on the diamond and academically. Swanson recognized that; they talked, and a simple solution was posited by Zach: trust your life to Christ.

Serendipitously, a friend had been lightly pressing Daniels to return to the church. Moreover, Swanson had just baptized one of Daniels’ high school teammates. Zach suggested to Hunter that he would conduct the baptism. The die was cast.

“I trusted that guy,” Daniels says. “If he told me to do something, I’d do it without a doubt in my mind that it wasn’t going to benefit me. Where he came into my life and just brought me back into it (Christianity) tenfold to what I was involved before. I needed it there, and he was just there.”

It’s a full circle moment of Swanson’s philosophy in action.

Whether coaching pitchers like Daniels, or here Marcus Janovsky (left) and Pierce Stone (right), Swanson always strives to get the best out of his players (Photo: Norm Le Bus)

“I try and get the most of our guys day-to-day both on and off the field,” he says. “I saw that I didn’t get everything I wanted out of my career…so I have a hunger to get everything I can out of the players I coach.”

***

The HarbourCats are back in action this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as they take on the Redmond Dudes in a three-game set at Wilson’s Group Stadium. Tuesday is $12 Tuesday – the cheapest sports ticket in town – while Thursday is our second School Spirit Game with over 2,500 school kids expected to be in attendance. Tickets for all HarbourCats games, as always, are available on-line through our one and only ticketing partner Showpass at http://harbourcats.com/tickets.

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Summer Collegiate

Victoria HarbourCats – Sunny Matinee Ends in 9-1 HarbourCats Win

Published

2 days ago

June 15, 2026

Dugout Wire Service

The sun was hot, and the bats were hotter, driving in nine runs this afternoon. (Photo by JPM Photography)

Victoria, B.C. – A beautiful Sunday afternoon saw the HarbourCats take home a series win, claiming a 9-1 victory over the Springfield Drifters.

Hudson Lance (Coastal Carolina) took the bump to kick this ballgame off, extending a warm welcome to the visiting lineup in the form of two straight strikeouts in the top of the first.

BOX SCORE

Springfield’s defence would not be so fortunate. David Krahn (UBC) stepped up to the plate for the HarbourCats and smashed a line drive over the fence for a leadoff home run, his second of the season. One inning down, and a 1-0 lead for the HarbourCats.

David Krahn (UBC) wasted no time getting on the board this afternoon with a leadoff round-tripper. (Photo by JPM Photography)

The Drifters tried time and again in the following innings in an attempt to retaliate, but Hudson Lance and the HarbourCats ticked the “strongly disagree” box. Lance was nigh impenetrable throughout his majority stake in the ballgame, only allowing a single hit in five innings and tying the HarbourCats season record with eight strikeouts.

David Krahn returned to his old tricks in the bottom of the fifth, driving in a run and scoring on a perfectly placed double from outfielder Tristan Buehring (Whitman). At the halfway point of the ballgame, the Cats now lead 4-0.

Daniel Tovar (Northern Kentucky) got the nod for the top of the sixth and conceded a run, but was otherwise able to maintain a HarbourCats lead. That run wouldn’t go unanswered, as catcher Jacob Silva (UTSA) bid sweet farewell to a hanging pitch, clearing the right field wall by a healthy margin and widening the Cats lead to 5-1. A wild pitch and a few walks didn’t do Springfield any favours, and two additional runs crossed the plate by the end of the inning to make it 7-1.

Jacob Silva (UTSA) crushed a looooooong homer in his return to Victoria. (Photo by JPM Photography)

The Cats turned the offence back up in the bottom of the eighth, scoring two more runs courtesy of Jacob Silva and Matt Westley (George Mason) to glide their way to a 9-1 win, and a series win to boot.

WCL STANDINGSC

HarbourCats action returns this week, as the Cats host the Redmond Dudes for a three-game midweek series from Tuesday to Thursday.

Single game tickets for all HarbourCats games and the 2026 West Coast League All-Star Game and Home Run Derby are now on sale at http://harbourcats.com/tickets. Season tickets, 12-pack and 32-pack game vouchers may also be bought online or by stopping by the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street.

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